By Benjamin Leatherman Sybris is scheduled to perform on Sunday at the Rhythm Room. This weekend’s concert calendar is loaded up quite heavily with talent, with such marquee-level names as Twista, Neil Diamond, Patti LaBelle, and DJ Irene will be performing at venues around the Valley (and that’s just tonight)…
By Jonathan McNamara Friday, October 10: Circus Mexicus Anyone else tripping down to Rocky Point for the three-day jam fest that is Circus Mexicus? If not, be sure to keep checking back with Up on the Sun for updates featuring Roger Clyne and all the wacky mayhem. Saturday, October 11:…
By Jonathan McNamara Local bands echoed through the night as bachelorettes hung out near the stripper poles on Thursday, October 9, 2008. See more photos in our Thursday Night Out slideshow…
By Martin Cizmar
There were a bunch of upcoming shows announced this week, but nothing super high profile. For my money, the top announcement was Flo Rida, which will come to the Venue of Scottsdale on Nov. 1.
A long-haired Henry Rollins (circa 1983) sings with Black Flag in Tucson. Photo by Ed Arnaud. I was fortunate enough to attend Henry Rollins’ incredible spoken word gig last night at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. As staff writer Niki D’Andrea detailed in her review of the show, the punk…
When will Republican politicians learn that most musicians are Democrats? At the very least, they could make a couple calls before using particular artists’ songs in their campaigns. That would prevent musicians getting bitchy about their songs being used without their permission by politicians they don’t endorse.
By Steve Jansen Full disclosure: A contributor to this blog is currently in a relationship with a member of Miniature Tigers. Just received word this morning that the new Miniature Tigers music video was just added to MySpaceTV Videos today. The featured tune, “Cannibal Queen,” is most definitely one of…
By Martin Cizmar There’s actually a lot of pretty decent fliers up right now, but Mesa’s Treble Hook Company really outdid itself with this dark beauty. The band, which plays grinding metal, will be at Hollywood Alley tomorrow ($5) and also has dates scheduled at Big Fish Pub and Club…
THURSDAY 9 Axis/Radius: Red Bull Ladies Night with DJ MCB (hip-hop, rock, Top 40) Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Club Red: The Blunt Club with EPMD, Pickster Uno, DJ Element, & more (hip-hop) Crabby…
By the ripe old age of 7, Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt already considered himself a metalhead. So the disappointment he felt when his grandmother gave him a classical guitar at that age seemed only natural. Like many an aspiring headbanger, Åkerfeldt pined to rock out with screaming, amplified distortion. “I…
Experimental indie-rock quartet Portugal. The Man — which alternates rocking hard, bluesy, and soulful, like an unhinged Zeppelin, and getting mellow and chamber-poppy with strings, brass, and organs — is led by singer-guitarist and chief songwriter John Gourley, who hails from Wasilla, a small town in southeastern Alaska not far…
In an early scene from one of our cinematic treasures, 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Phoebe Cates’ character “Linda” points out, “There are three girls at Ridgemont who have cultivated the Pat Benatar look,” before the camera hones in on three chicks with striped shirts, tights, spiky hair, heels,…
Few musicians polarize critics like Neil Diamond, but love him or hate him, you can’t deny his ability to write unforgettable pop numbers. Just consider how many of Diamond’s songs have become standards and then, as covers, became standards again. While trying to catalog such a list, we discovered a…
MTV has a lot to answer for. Killing the radio star to force-feed us hair bands in the ’80s. Re-imagining punk and grunge to be all those lousy bands that filled two entire CDs of “buzz cuts” in the ’90s. Inventing the reality show and, in reality, gutting music from…
Santa, forgive us for saying this, but screw Christmas. In our opinion, Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year. And since the haunted holiday is just around the corner, there’s gonna be plenty of scary soirees that we’re going to be hanging out at over the next few…
Though other top MCs have had to create their own bogeymen to battle — Kanye has his ego, Eminem had Kim, Lil Wayne has those cough-syrup Martians — T.I.’s got real problems. Released from house arrest and in the midst of 1,500 hours of community service, he still has to…
When considering the work of The Jesus and Mary Chain, most conversations begin and end with the Scottish band’s stunning 1985 debut, Psychocandy. Fair enough. With its simple, melodic pop songs dipped in battery acid guitar feedback, the album is widely regarded as a landmark of the era. Had songwriters…
Fresh on the heels of 2006’s Robbers & Cowards, the debut album that featured the radio darling “Hang Me Out to Dry,” Long Beach-based Cold War Kids fight an uphill battle on their sophomore effort. Loyalty to Loyalty chronicles the band’s efforts to shake the reputation that their single made…
Nearly every music genre has an avant-garde wing, an “underground” scene escaping the notice of mainstream press. Hip-hop is no exception. San Francisco duo Blue Sky Black Death — Young God and Kingston — got together with vocalist Yes Alexander and the result, Slow Burning Lights, redefines what a hip-hop…
An aging hipster and a 16-year-old girl stroll through the mall, absentmindedly enveloped in their respective iPods. They collide. “Hey, watch where you’re going,” says the hipster. “You got pop sensibilities in my drone-y shoegaze.” The 16-year-old girl cocks her head: “Nuh-uh. You got your lameass shoegaze all up in…
Philly three-piece Jukebox the Ghost’s wry whimsical alarm is just the balm to soothe a decade of complaint rock and loudcore ache. Whether surviving imminent manmade apocalypse or entertaining the devil while God explains “how all the shit’s going to be when I blow your little planet into smithereens,” the…
Taking a break from their larger pavilion/ballroom tour with Nashville rock mainstays Kings of Leon, tourmates The Stills and We Are Scientists come to Tempe to showcase their solid new albums to a more intimate crowd. This show says a lot about both bands, stopping by Arizona in between shows…
